Identity (ITV1 2010, Keeley Hawes, Aidan Gillen)

May 25, 2016

Identity Theft seems to have reached epidemic proportions in the UK and it is this insidious crime that is at the centre of this crime drama series. Starring Keeley Hawes and Aidan Gillen Identity follows the members of a special police unit that is thrust headlong into the often murky world of this sort of crime.

D.S.I Martha Lawson (played by Keeley Hawes) is in charge of the unit and was responsible for putting it together, second in command is D.I. John Bloom (Aidan Gillen) who falls into that classic maverick cop thing and prefers to do things his way. Lawson knows she has taken a chance with Bloom but believes he will get results. Also on the team is IT expert Tessa Stein, zealous D.S. Anthony Wareing (who seriously dislikes Bloom and his unconventional ways) and the cocky young DC Jose Rodriguez.

The team find themselves taking on murderers who take on the lives of their victims and bad guys who are living secret lives under different personas.

Definitely an interesting take on the crime drama format, identity theft is very much a problem in much of the world. Strong casting too, Hawes is a natural leading lady somewhat surprised that she would follow up one crime drama (Ashes to Ashes) for another though. Good to see Aidan Gillan back on UK TV screens too even if with his leather jacket and skinny black jeans he looks like he is practicing to be a rock god rather a cop. He completely steals the series away from the rest of the cast, Hawes, who is naturally fab ends up spending far too much time in the office moaning at everybody and wondering why her somewhat daggy clothes have seemingly been drafted in from Ashes to Ashes.

Over the course of the series Martha feels that Bloom is stepping over the line more and more but is unwilling to do anything about, even after she uncovers more about Bloom’s secret life. It’s clear too that she knows Bloom is the real star of the Unit and there is quite a bit of antagonism between her and the rest of the team, in particular Tessa.

Talking about his characters series creator Ed Whitmore remarked: “There’s a real conundrum in creating cop characters. You want them to be good at their job so we can savour their investigative ingenuity yet you don’t want them to be blandly heroic – in essence you want that investigative ingenuity to COST them something. The paradox of a man who’s more comfortable in anyone’s skin but his own is really compelling and moving and Aidan Gillen said that’s what fundamentally grabbed him about the character of John Bloom.”

Good opening titles too! Somewhat surprisingly only a single season was made.